Learning How To Put On Make Up At 38!

For my birthday in September, my husband gave me a Mac make up lesson voucher.
For some, this might seem like it could be taken in the wrong way, but for me it was perfect.

You see, I’m really not very clued up about make up at all. The first time, not that many years ago, I tried to put liquid eye liner on, I am not joking, it took probably an hour! I was late for my sister’s party, ended up in tears and felt like such a failure of a woman because I couldn’t do this simple thing that so many other woman seem to do so effortlessly all the time.

So, although I can now put eye liner on in about 5 mins (major improvement!) I just don’t know about where to place things to accentuate my eyes, cheeks, etc. The thing is I’ve never really worn make up and it is only quite recently that I’m taking more of an interest in it and would like to know these things. So this birthday present was just perfect for me! Plus, the fact that hubby has never been that into me wearing make up made it even more perfect because it was a gift that really had ME in mind…the best kind of gift there is.

I didn’t realise how busy they were and I had to book 2 weeks in advance. Finding a day for it was not that easy as it needed to be a day that I wasn’t fetching my girls from school but finally I booked it and went to the Mac store at the Waterfront.

I’m not quite sure what the make up artist thought of me as I really am that clueless but she was very nice and patient with me. The way they do it is first ask you why you’re there and what you’re wanting to learn. From what I gathered, people go there to learn a new technique, about what’s trending and then there’s me who goes, at the age of 38, to just learn how to put it on!

I told her I don’t wear make up a lot and so just want something very natural for when I do wear it and also for the nights (all those date nights now) when I go out, to feel a bit smarter. The whole session was about 2 hours and was very thorough. She showed me how to put blusher on to accentuate my cheek bones, bronzer, the best colour eye shadow for me, how to put it on and I must admit, I learnt a lot. I also learnt some nice techniques for eye liner, how to get that smoky eye look etc.

A close up of my eye liner which I liked but was too much for the day so I took it off.

She also gives you a make up chart at the end of the lesson which shows what products, colours etc, she used and what she did. I was in a rush as I had to be somewhere so didn’t actually get mine then but I still need to go back and get it. The voucher was worth R800 which includes products to the value of that so a really great present, especially if you are wanting to buy Mac products.

Unfortunately, I had to rush off to a memorial afterwards so I didn’t really get to ‘enjoy’ my ‘make-over’ as it seemed quite inconsequential in comparison. Also, when I took my make up off that night, I came up in a terrible rash and my skin just wasn’t happy for the next few days. Having never used my make up remover before (not Mac), I can’t say which one it was for sure that caused the reaction, the make up or the remover. Generally, I prefer to buy natural and organic products so I am not sure I will continue to buy Mac but it was good to try.

Besides all that though, I definitely feel a bit more confident with putting my make up on which is really what I wanted to achieve. So all in all it was very worthwhile and I can definitely recommend it as a spoil for yourself or a gift idea for someone else. I apologise for the poor quality of the pictures. In the rush to get to the memorial, I quickly snapped a couple of pics in the car (I wasn’t driving) and then totally forgot later on in the day so the after pic is a bit blurry 🙁

Anyone else out there as clueless as I am? Or should I say was? Or is it just me?